Weekly Racing Roundup (10.10.22)

Next Year’s Porsche GT3 Takes Debut Podium in NLS

The in-development 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R scored an outright podium on its competitive debut in last weekend’s four-hour NLS race at the Nürburgring.

Factory drivers Julien Andlauer and Frederic Makowiecki guided the Manthey-run car, which will be introduced globally next year, to a third-place finish behind two Scherer Sport Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs.

The new Porsche ran in the non-homologation SP-X class and started behind the homologated FIA GT3 cars in the top SP9 category.

However, Andlauer had advanced to sixth overall by the end of the second lap, during an early stage that took place in damp conditions.

Despite also having to serve an extra 30 seconds at each pit stop, the Frenchman and his compatriot Makowiecki soon moved into the top three, where they remained until the end behind a thrilling battle for the win between the teammate Phoenix crews.

Kim-Luis Schramm, Jakub Giermaziak and Luca Engstler won the race by around half a minute over Frank Stippler and Vincent Kolb.

In the final hour, Engstler made a brave pass on Kolb into Schwedendreuz, but the driver of the overtaken Audi fought back to get alongside his factory-contracted teammate on the Dottinger Hohe straight, with each R8 going either side of a KTM X-Bow GT2.

Engstler immediately slotted back ahead into Tiergarten, only for Stippler to emerge from the final stops ahead of Giermaziak.

A similar move at Tiergarten from Giermaziak on Stippler brought the green No. 16 Audi back ahead of its blue counterpart, with that order standing through the final 40 minutes.

RESULTS: ADAC Barbarossapreis

Kurtz Rounds Off Title-Winning Season at Indy

Goerge Kurtz rounded off his title-winning season in GT America powered by AWS with a pair of victories in the final round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The CrowdStrike CEO, driving a CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, had already sealed the title at the penultimate event but went on to finish the year with 10 wins to his name.

Kurtz started Race 1 from the back of SRO3 due to a technical infraction, while Jeff Burton took the early lead in his TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.

Fighting back from the grid penalty, Kurtz reached Burton in less than half the race duration and pounced into the lead when the TR3 driver ran wide into Turn 1.

In the second 40-minute contest, Kurtz led from start to finish as Andy Pilgrim and Mirco Schultis battled for second.

Pilgrim briefly got his SKI Autosports Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 ahead of Schultis’ Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, however Schultis found a way back past into Turn 1 before defending the position through GT4 traffic on the final lap.

Reflecting on his season, Kurtz said: “It was certainly a great year. CrowdStrike with Riley gave me a great car all season, we did really well here, and we showcased our talents and team efforts. It was a breakout season.”

The GT4 title went to Ross Chouest, who won the second race in his Aston Martin Vantage GT4 after Gray Newell’s Aston dramatically slowed on the final lap.

RESULTS: Race 1 / Race 2

Other Racing Action

***Yuki Nemoto and Edoardo Liberati were crowned Italian GT Endurance champions after winning Sunday’s two-hour race at Monza in their Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. Liberati dropped to seventh in a wet opening stint, but Nemoto recovered to reach the podium positions and moved into the lead by passing Nova Race’s Honda and benefiting from VSR’s other Lamborghini retiring with a gearbox issue. Results / Standings

***Tim Heinemann became the first two-time DTM Trophy champion with sixth in the penultimate race of the season at Hockenheim, which Colin Caresani won. Heinemann, who drove a Ring Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 this year after clinching his first title in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, then won the second race to cap his title-winning campaign. Race 1 / Race 2

***The Ultimate Cup Series returned to action at Magny-Cours where Graff won the three-hour prototype race with a Ligier JS P320 Nissan driven by Sebastian Page, Luca Allen and Eric Trouillet. The four-hour GT endurance contest went to Ferrari squad Visiom.

***The second round of the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series took place last weekend. Team Redline won the 4 Hours of Monza overall with its Oreca 07 driven by Luke Bennett, Jeffrey Rietveld and Maximilian Benecke, who finished 15 seconds ahead of AMG Team Williams Esports. GTE class honors went to Ferrari squad R8G Esports.

News & Notes

***A visit to the streets of Adelaide will conclude this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season on Dec. 1-4. It will run as three 40-minute races, replicating the format used when the predecessor series Australian GT last supported the Supercars Adelaide 500.

***TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa winner Daniel Juncadella headlines the Spanish entry for the FIA Motorsport Games. Juncadella will drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the GT Sprint competition, while Gonzalo de Andres and Fernando Navarrette will share the same type of car in GT Cup. The operating team has not been determined yet.

***Lewis Proctor will switch from McLaren to Aston Martin GT3 machinery for this weekend’s Intelligent Money British GT Championship season finale. Proctor will team up with Beechdean AMR team principal Andrew Howard for the two-hour race at Donington Park.

***Following that move, Proctor’s father Stuart will share Greystone GT’s McLaren 720S GT3 with Warren Hughes, the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class winner and 2012 British GT4 champion.

***Furthermore, McLaren team Orange Racing has joined the British GT grid for the season finale with GT Cup title contenders Simon Orange and Michael O’Brien.

On this weekend: European Le Mans Series (Portimao), International GT Open (Barcelona), Intelligent Money British GT Championship (Donington), Fanatec GT2 European Series (Paul Ricard)